The Word of God

Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and it is devoted to professing the greatness of God’s word.  In it, King David creates a declaration that the word of God is trustworthy, accurate and authentic. Believers can rest assured that the Bible is a reliable guide for living and learning about God and his love for us.

The Holy Bible is a dependable historical document that can be authenticated by secular literature as well as archeological discoveries that verify its narratives and truth claims.  It is truly amazing how the writings of 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years contain such continuity, detail and accuracy. One such example is the conquest of the city of Babylon by Cyrus the Great on Oct. 12, 539 BC.  The nation of Israel was in captivity in Babylon during that time.

The Greek historian Herodotus (484 – 425 BC), wrote how the Persians captured the city without a battle.  After diverting the Euphrates River into a canal upstream, the water level effectively dropped to the point where the invaders were able to slip through the river bed and into the city at night undetected. 

That fateful night is recorded in Daniel 5:17-31 when the Babylonian king Belshazzar held a banquet for 1000 of his nobles and indiscriminately used the gold and silver goblets his grandfather had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and used them as party vessels for their wine.  A mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the banquet hall words that no one could understand until the Prophet Daniel interpreted them for the king (they predicted an end to his reign that very night).  Belshazzar was slain by Darius the Mede and his army as they entered the hall unchallenged and the Medo-Persian coalition took over the empire.

When King Cyrus the Great made his triumphal entrance into the city, a week or so later, he was met by none other than the Prophet Daniel, who had been summoned to the banquet hall a few nights earlier to interpret the strange writing on the wall.  Daniel presented the conquering king with an ancient scroll written 150 years before Cyrus was born which mentioned him by name.  “who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,’ who says to Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, ‘Let it be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid.’” Isaiah 44:27-28.

Isaiah 45:1-5 goes on to record, “This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:  I will go before you and will level the mountains, I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.  I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.  For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me.  I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.  I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,”.

This must have had quite an impact upon Cyrus because in response, he set the captives free and gave them back the gold and silver goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem a generation earlier.  Ezra 1:1-4 tells us, “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:

This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.  Anyone of his people among you – may his God be with him, let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.  And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

The text goes on to say in verse 7, “Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.” The treasures were inventoried and transferred to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. “In all, there were 5400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:11.

The edict of restoration was a proclamation that encouraged the return of Israelites to the land of Israel.  This edict and other details of Cyrus the Great’s reign are listed on what is known as the Cyrus cylinder, an ancient clay cylinder on which is written how he was welcomed by the people as he entered the city in peace.  It mentions the repatriation of captured peoples and the restoration of sanctuaries and is recognized as a tribute to Cyrus’s appreciation of cultural and religious diversity.   The cylinder is housed in the British Museum in London. 

Another profound example of the intersection of scripture and secular history occurred when Alexander the Great was campaigning and conquering nation after nation.  Jewish historian Josephus records that after defeating the coastal cities of Tyre and Gaza, Alexander set his sights on Jerusalem.  As he approached the city, in 332 BC, the high priest of Jerusalem, Simeon the Just, met with him and showed him the Book of Daniel with its prophecy regarding the Greek kingdom whom Alexander fought for, and their prophesied conquest of Persia in chapter 11.  Alexander made the connection and surmised himself as the mighty king, and subsequently decided not to attack Jerusalem and instead marched on to Babylon and victory there.  Daniel’s prophetic words were written several centuries before Alexander’s conquests.

Without a doubt, though, the biblical accounts of Jesus Christ and the parallel nonbiblical historical writings about him constitute the greatest authentication of the Bible as the bona fide word of God.  There is plenty of evidence both biblical and non-biblical that attest that Jesus was a historical figure.  He is mentioned in the writings of Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Justin Martyr and Suetonius as well as many others.  These historians had no reason to believe Jesus was made up and corroborate the gospels and much of the New Testament.

Additionally, historians have referred to other writings about Jesus that are now lost, such as Phlegon of Tralles whose work was quoted by Origen of Alexandria and Thallus who is referenced by Sextus Julius Africanus.  Both authors wrote details about Jesus and his crucifixion. 

Additional archeological evidence confirming the historical accuracy of the Bible include the excavation of the Pool of Siloam in 2004 (John 9:7), Hezzekiah’s tunnel inscription on a stone in the wall (now held in the Istanbul Archeological Museum), the Pilate stone discovered in Caesarea Maritima in 1961, with the inscription, “Pontius Pilate, prefect of the Roman province of Judea” (dated AD 26 – AD 36), authenticating the biblical claims that he was indeed in power when Jesus was crucified.

The Bible is the most authenticated ancient document in the history of civilization.  It has more manuscripts and more accurate manuscripts than any other ancient writings and nothing even comes close.  For example, Plato’s known work consists of 210 manuscripts with the earliest written 1200 years after the events.  Aristotle’s works are validated by 1000 manuscripts dated 1200 years afterward.  Homer’s Lliad boasts 1757 manuscripts dated 400 years afterward.  Even more recent writings, such as The Travels of Marco Polo between AD 1298 and AD 1299, with only 150 copies in existence are considered to be authentic.

The New Testament alone has over 25,000 known manuscripts, dated as early as 25 years after Jesus’s crucifixion.  If the Bible is held to the same standard as other ancient documents, its authenticity is without question.  The writers of the Bible did not write of their own accord but were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  It is truly the word of God.